


Connor Tucker

by Kildysart



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 21:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/577817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kildysart/pseuds/Kildysart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>T'Pol and Archer attend Trip's family memorial on Earth and T'Pol meets Trip's cousin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Remembering Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I've taken liberties with the Star Trek canon, but no disrespect is intended. Only one character is the product of my imagination, the rest are the property of whoever owns the Star Trek Enterprise series. I can only hope the next series has some prominent, long-running lesbian characters so I don't have to keep dreaming up my own...

“She’s not like I expected,” Alice mused, walking with her husband to the piloted shuttlecraft Starfleet had provided.

“The Vulcan? No, I guess she isn’t what y’d expect. I thought she’d be, well, more standoffish or…” Bud’s voice quieted to nothing, what Alice recognized as his mind gearing up and his mouth shutting down. She knew he was trying to find the words.

Alice smiled and looked up into those eyes, a little faded with age and, perhaps, more so now with lingering grief. _Are mine paler as well?_ she wondered. “I didn’t think Vulcans had feelings, Bud. Isn’t that what you’ve heard, too?”

Bud nodded, waving as their craft lifted off smoothly and he watched Jonathan below, waving back up at them. He thought he saw the Vulcan woman raise her hand, too, just before the craft angled upward and away. 

“I saw tears in her eyes a couple times, Bud.”

Bud nodded, gazing down as San Francisco became increasingly smaller and shattered sunlight glinted off the surface of the bay. “She felt bad about Trip, that’s for sure. Talking to us wasn’t some kind of ‘official duty’ for her, anymore than it was for Jonathan.”

“That’s why I invited her to come for the family ceremony. You didn’t mind, did you?”

Bud turned from the window to smile into the eyes that held his heart. “Alice, even after all these years, you can still surprise me. But, no, I don’t mind. As usual, as soon as I had a chance to think about it, it made perfect sense.”

Alice smiled back, then turned to tuck herself into his side as he wrapped his arms around her. They had a long way to go before they saw home and she felt so tired. She pushed the thought of the impending funeral out of her head, with just a grateful thought for family back home taking care of the arrangements and Jonathan and T’Pol having taken care of everything here. Alice closed her eyes and let sleep bring solace.

#

“Commander T’Pol?”

T’Pol turned quickly at the sound of her name and rank and was immediately disoriented. The female voice calling her had sounded familiar—the accent, she realized immediately as she looked into the startlingly blue eyes framed by short, sandy-colored hair, was the same. The nose tilted up and looked “bit off at the tip,” as Trip once joked about his own. T’Pol found herself looking into a familiarly expressive face—not Trip’s at all, but somehow so comfortably close and on the same level as her own.

“Connor Tucker, Trip’s cousin on his dad’s side,” the woman smiled shyly and extended her right hand. Her smile faded to embarrassment when T’Pol didn’t take it. “I’m sorry, I forgot. Vulcans don’t like to shake hands, do they? Please forgive me.”

“No, no, please,” T’Pol tilted her head and blinked, waking herself from her disorientation. “It is I who must apologize,” she continued and stretched out her hand to retrieve Connor’s offered one. “I was noticing how much you remind me of Commander Tucker.”

Connor smiled and shrugged, “I thought I’d grown out of that, but I guess people here just got used to it and stopped reminding me.” She released T’Pol’s hand and, as though to keep them out of trouble, reached both of her own behind her to prop against the split-rail fence. Her face was framed by the stretch of high grass and woods beyond, her short hair lifting slightly with a breeze blowing up from the river. T’Pol noticed the well-defined muscles along the woman’s forearms, the strong hands gripping the rough wood, the broadness of her shoulders. She’d seen that kind of build in some humans who were athletes, especially swimmers.

T’Pol had been aware all morning of the amazing scents drifting by on breezes, the river being the strongest, but not at all unpleasant. She had obviously become accustomed to planets with abundant moisture, unlike her Vulcan home world. The woman before her emitted a human scent that was not unpleasant, as well. It had taken T’Pol awhile to grow accustomed to human scent without being disturbed. Initially on Enterprise, she’d had to use a nasal numbing agent to ignore the pervasive human odor in close quarters. By the time she’d fallen in love with Trip, however, she’d grown even comfortable with it. Female humans were easier in that regard and this woman followed the rule but more so, for some reason.

“It’s been…well…the family feels honored that you and Captain Archer came to the ceremony here.” Connor seemed to be trying to look T’Pol in the eye, but having difficulty. Again, T’Pol was reminded of Trip and she felt a strong need to make this woman feel less awkward.

“I’m honored to have been invited. I realize this is a family gathering and to be included is more than kind,” she said, dipping her head to catch Connor’s eyes and hold her gaze. T’Pol consciously relaxed her emotional restraint and allowed feelings to surface. She hoped her sincerity would show in her eyes. She wondered, as she often did while trying to relate with humans, if she would ever be able to let her lips form even the slightest smile.

“Trip must have meant a lot to you.” Connor seemed to have locked onto T’Pol’s gaze. Her eyes never wavered now and her voice was a low murmur, almost a whisper. T’Pol wondered if this woman read minds. Nevertheless, she felt compelled to remain open. She did not draw back but allowed the gaze to hold her.

“Yes,” was all she could reply to the question.

Connor tilted her head and, with a small smile that moved up to include her eyes—so much like Trip, T’Pol thought again—she said, “Then that makes you family.”

“Connor?”

Jonathan Archer’s eyes were alight with happiness as he looked into the young woman’s eyes. Connor, in turn, suddenly seemed to fill with energy and T’Pol realized she was seeing the real woman, not encumbered by shyness. “Jonathan,” she said simply and grinned up at him. Then they both remembered why they were there and a shadow passed over both their faces. Jonathan reached toward her and Connor stepped into his embrace. When they parted, their energy seemed to have returned, but muted somewhat.

Archer turned to T’Pol and explained, “Connor used to bedevil us when Trip and I were trying to work on our scuba equipment. She kept getting into everything, talking the whole time so we couldn’t hear ourselves think!”

“I was ten. All ten year old humans are obnoxious,” Connor explained to T’Pol with a shrug. “But they were merciless. Wouldn’t let me come along, wouldn’t even let me sit in the boat while it was docked!”

“We were under orders from Trip’s Mom not to let you get chewed on by an alligator or a shark. You’d have jumped into the water to see either up close!” They both laughed at that, Connor obviously agreeing, though T’Pol couldn’t imagine even a ten year old human doing something that illogical. But if she is like Trip was, T’Pol remembered…

“How is your project going?” Archer leaned toward Connor with sincere interest. “I heard you were responsible for the new wildlife park in the Keys.”

“It’s pretty much completed. I’m going to be at loose ends now that the park is up and running. I’m going to be looking for a new project, I guess.”

“Won’t you be running it?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Connor grinned. “No, I was lucky enough to get some really good people signed on early in the project who will be more than capable in maintaining the park. I’m ready to move on.” She looked up as though an idea had just blown on the top of her head—not like Trip, T’Pol thought, but charming the way some of his expressions had been—and looked from Archer to T’Pol and back. “How long will you be in Florida? Would you like a tour of the park?”

When Jonathan and T’Pol looked questioningly at each other rather than answering, Connor suddenly slipped back into the awkward shyness she’d displayed earlier, “Don’t feel obligated, I was just offering.”

“No,” T’Pol hastened to reassure the young woman, to alleviate the discomfort she was sensing from her, “I would like very much to see the park. Trip told me about it several years ago and about your leadership in establishing it. He was very pleased when you managed to convince Florida not to allow commercial interests to rebuild what was destroyed but to instead let it revert to its natural state. I merely hesitated because I am unsure as to what our schedule might require of us.” This last T’Pol voiced while looking over to the Captain.

“I’d love to see the park, as well,” he began, “But I’m already scheduled to debrief in San Francisco tomorrow morning for our next mission. They’re not giving us much downtime this time around, I’m afraid.”

“Am I required at the debriefing, as well, Captain?” 

Archer stared at T’Pol for just an extra click and T’Pol realized with appreciation that he was trying to read whether she wanted an ‘out’ or was really asking if she had time to take a detour before reporting. She maintained a steady look, knowing with long experience that he would know she wanted a straight answer.

“No, you don’t need to report to Starfleet for two more days.”

“Then I would be free to see your project, if I can arrange transportation, Connor.” T’Pol had not expected the obvious pleasure that the young woman displayed at her acceptance.

“I have a shuttle available to me. We could leave from here when your visit is done. If you’d like, you can stay at my place, visit the park tomorrow, and I can fly you to San Francisco when you’re ready.”

“You have a shuttle?” Archer seemed mildly stunned at the news. T’Pol was amused to observe that he didn’t realize the degree to which the ten year old had grown up. Apparently, Jonathan hadn’t heard how Connor’s reputation had grown, either, as she coordinated efforts to make the park a reality. T’Pol didn’t know all the details but, from what Trip had imparted to her and what she had picked up just browsing for Earth news, Connor had developed influential partners and benefactors in her quest to make the park a reality.

“Perks of the job, Jonathan,” Connor grinned at his surprise. T’Pol could see Connor was amused as well. “I haven’t gotten to use it much, so I might as well take advantage of it when I can.”

When Archer continued to stare at her, she let out a belly laugh at his consternation. “Relax, old man, I don’t fly it myself. I have a pilot. Your First Officer is safe with me,” she winked at T’Pol who wondered why Connor needed to reassure the Captain that she didn’t fly her own shuttle.

“Thank you,” Archer said, finally. “I still remember what you did to Trip’s experimental plane.”

Connor glanced sheepishly at T’Pol, but the impish grin still ruled the lower half of her face. “I was very young and determined to show I could do whatever Trip could do.” The grin morphed into a grimace with, “I was wrong.”

“You crashed it.” T’Pol guessed.

“To smithereens,” she replied, but T’Pol wasn’t sensing abject remorse.

“Trip was so glad to find you alive near the wreckage, he wasn’t even angry about the plane,” Archer recalled. 

“You know what he told me when I was back on my feet and I went to apologize to him? That he’d have grabbed the chance to fly her too, if he’d been in my place.” Connor looked at T’Pol and continued, “That was the thing about Trip. He had a way of putting himself into other people’s shoes.”

As T’Pol saw the emotion rising in Connor’s eyes, she felt pressure behind her own. She would normally have been thrown by the strong emotion welling up in her chest, but somehow it felt too familiar to be wrong. The two women gazed into each other’s eyes for some time, appreciating the shared feelings. When Trip’s mother’s voice interrupted, T’Pol wondered how long her gaze would have been held this time.

“Connor, these guests of ours need to be fed! Don’t keep them standin’ out here in the sun when there’s food to be eaten!”

Connor smiled down at the woman who took her in and raised her as one of her own. “Yes, Aunt Alice. We’re on our way in right now.”

Archer offered his arm to Alice Tucker and the pair turned for the house. Connor leaned toward T’Pol and spoke quietly, “There will be plenty of vegan dishes—just follow my lead.”

T’Pol realized Connor was saying that she didn’t eat animals, either. That would be logical, considering Connor’s dedication to the protection of animals. However, T’Pol never regarded humans with an expectation of logical behavior. Her experience had been that logic was usually the exception.


	2. Mangrove in the Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor shows T'Pol the biggest treehouse ever.

As the shuttle flew silently between the park and a star-filled sky faded by the light of a full moon, T’Pol could only make out mounded dark shapes below, surrounded by dappled surfaces. They descended and skimmed over the mounds and she could make out waves cresting placidly against shoreline. Even in the low illumination, T’Pol could see the straight line of the trench that stretched from here and deeply into the continent to the south, where the attacking Xindis’ powerful weapon’s beam had cut a swath along the surface of Earth and killed so many.

“We’ve replanted the mangroves on the edges of the trench in this section, but it will be many years before tidal action, mangroves, and animals manage to erode or hide the scar,” Connor murmured, peering past T’Pol at the scene below. The craft was banking now and slowing. T’Pol hadn’t noticed any lights or buildings and wondered where they would be putting down.

Connor grinned and tilted her head toward the pilot, “Charlie knows the drill by now. He’s maneuvering into the best position to approach the compound so you get the full effect of “Moonlight on the Mansion.” 

As the shuttle leveled out, the forward viewscreen lit with a scene of moonlit waves moving slowly onto a broad beach. Beyond the beach, she saw what appeared to be an enormous tree. Within the branches, as they neared the shore, T’Pol thought she glimpsed squares of light.

“Is that a house?” She asked, still peering ahead and waiting for the scene to make sense.

“It’s a treehouse—a fine Earth tradition!” Connor laughed.

“Your house is in a tree?”

“It’s actually on saltwater resistant stilts, surrounded by mangroves. Some of them have been genetically altered to grow larger than they normally would. They were experimental attempts to re-vegetate the area more quickly and, since they were here and I always wanted to live in a treehouse, voila!”

The shuttle glided smoothly over the treetop and descended vertically into a glade, the shuttle’s downward floodlights gently lighting the grassy surface below. T’Pol could see pairs of yellow eyes, green eyes, and even red eyes dotting the dark textures of foliage surrounding the glade as the shuttle tapped easily into a very soft landing.

“We are being watched,” she murmured and was surprised to feel charmed by Connor’s humorous grin in response.

“Only a few are carnivorous and, besides, I’ll protect you. But,” she added with what T’Pol couldn’t help thinking was a flirtatious glint in her eye, “you’ll need to stay very close.”

“Indeed,” popped out of her mouth, with what she was again surprised to realize was an equally flirtatious lilt to her voice. Connor smiled widely and locked eyes with her for the third time that day. T’Pol knew then she wasn’t imagining what was happening between them. Bemused, she followed Connor out of the shuttle, thanking the pilot as she stepped out into what may have been the most humid atmosphere she had experienced in a very long time. By the time they reached the house, having followed a short, well-trod dirt path to a flight of rough hewn stairs, her uniform’s tunic was uncomfortably sticking to her wherever her underwear didn’t provide an also stuck sensation.

Connor led the way up the stairs and into an open deck of equally rough hewn timbers. T’Pol could see as they walked across the deck that the structure comprised a number of two and three story modules connected by such decks on various levels. As they entered the center module, several people turned, smiling, from chairs and couches arranged near a fireplace. T’Pol found the interior atmosphere far more comfortable and her sweaty clothes were cooling against her skin.

“Connor, we hope you don’t mind our staying up to greet your guest. We were all thrilled to hear you were coming,” an impossibly young man grinned sheepishly at T’Pol and dipped his head in a kind of cerebral bow. T’Pol had received this kind of recognition before, but it always surprised her. She kept expecting her notoriety to fade but it continued to occur.

“I don’t mind. It’s why I called ahead so you all would have some chance to make time in your schedules,” Connor smiled at him first in what T’Pol took to be gentle amusement. Then she turned to T’Pol, “But you may wish to rest up and meet the staff tomorrow. It’s probably been a very long day for you.”

“Not at all. I am at your disposal,” she replied with sincerity but realized she had fallen back on diplomatic language learned over many years.

Connor wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “Don’t you dare go Starfleet on me, Commander!” she smiled as much with her eyes as her mouth and T’Pol felt charmed again. “Are you tired?”

T’Pol found herself wanting very much to communicate sincerely with this woman. Jonathan once advised her to relax her emotional suppression just a bit when trying a mind meld with Hoshi Sato. She felt her left eyebrow quirk briefly as she focused on Connor’s eyes and she let just a bit of the warm feeling growing between them move outward from her core. Connor’s impish smile was still there, but her eyes softened as T’Pol leaned only slightly toward her and answered, “I appreciate your concern for my comfort. I assure you, however, that both the company and the journey here have not been tiring in the least. I find myself invigorated and quite interested to learn as much as I can about your project.” At the last words, T’Pol thought she detected a slight twitch in Connor’s focus and wondered if she had still been too Vulcan in her response. She was fairly sure of it as she saw the slightest curve of Connor’s eyebrow at the top of her nose. Trip would raise that part of his eyebrow when he felt amused frustration with her. In that nanosecond, T’Pol felt unaccountably flustered and cast about for the right thing to say to fix the faux pas. 

“But, perhaps you are tired and I am being a poor guest,” she murmured, turning slightly away from Connor’s staff and hoping they would not catch what she was saying. Connor looked surprised, obviously detecting T’Pol’s embarrassment.

“No,” she started, then stopped with a sheepish look to her staff. “Okay, wait, that’s not quite true. I’m probably projecting my tiredness. But I’m also a tad hungry and it would be nice to sit around the table with you all and have some beers and a light dinner. But I do need to change first and get into more comfortable clothes! Do we have time for that?”

The five staff assured her they could “rustle up some beer and chips” while she and T’Pol refreshed themselves and Connor led her through the main module to the upper story of an adjoining one. She showed T’Pol to the “guest room,” a spacious accommodation with its own bathroom and workstation alcove. A set of windowed double doors led to a private deck.

“This is quite luxurious,” T’Pol commented as she walked through to the bathroom. “Quarters on a starship are not ample.”

“Think of it as vacation accommodations—a resort, perhaps,” Connor smiled and looked her up and down. “I think we’re about the same size. I’ll bet you didn’t bring any shorts or t-shirts with you.”

“Only the pair of shorts I wear to sleep or meditate. They would be unsuitable I think to wear outside.”

“Would you feel more comfortable in a pair of cargo shorts?”

“Cargo?”

“Uh, canvas shorts with lots of pockets?”

“Ah, yes, as long as I am not required to wear a pith helmet. Vulcans look silly in most human haberdashery.”

Connor grinned widely and T’Pol suspected the young woman was visualizing her in several styles of headgear. “Yes, but most humanoids look abnormal in pith helmets, so don’t feel badly about it. I banned them here, actually, after trying one on in front of a mirror.”

“Indeed?”

Her laughter seemed to ripple through her body and T’Pol found both the sound and sight quite appealing. “Not really, but doesn’t the idea of me in a pith helmet give you a tickle?”

“I suspect you would look dashing in whatever you wore.” T’Pol realized with dismay that she was having little control over what came out of her mouth around this young woman. She was relieved, however, to see that Connor appeared very pleased at her comment.

“Thank you.” She replied simply, that Tucker sideways smile seeming to cause her head to tilt slightly.

#

They stayed up fairly late, but not as late as it would have been, had Connor not called lights-out. By the time T'Pol reached the guest room, she felt too tired to do more than slip into her sleeping attire and collapse on the bed.

She woke still calling to him desperately, “Trip!! Triiip!” before she heard Connor’s soothing voice.

“T’Pol, it’s just a bad dream. Look at me, T’Pol, it’s Connor. That’s better. You’re in Florida. You were having a nightmare.”

“I’m sorry,” was all she could gasp. It had been a horrible nightmare, though perhaps all nightmares are horrible. She didn’t know, having so few in her lifetime.

“It’s my fault, T’Pol,” Connor said, shaking her head sadly, “I didn’t give you time to meditate. You must have gone to bed as soon as you got back to your room.”

“How did you know that?” Few humans, were that knowledgeable about the powers of Vulcan meditation.

“That you didn’t meditate?”

“That meditating would have cleared my thoughts in a way that prevents such frightening dreams.”

“I had a Vulcan roommate in college. She never had nightmares.”

“A Vulcan attended an Earth university?”

Connor smiled in the moonlight shining in through the window and T’Pol realized how close she was. Her scent was pleasant—soap, a saltiness that was like mild sweat and something else that made T’Pol’s heart ache a little. With sadness, she realized Elizabeth had smelled like that. She remembered that Elizabeth had been in the dream toward the end.

“…her parents were very upset with her, but she was determined to study humans more closely. T’Pol?”

“I’m sorry, my mind wandered.”

“You looked very sad. Do you want to talk about the dream?”

“It was upsetting.”

“I believe you. You were calling for Trip.”

That felt too close for T’Pol, the sound of his name, Connor’s face so close in the moonlight, the sound of Elizabeth’s baby voice still in her head, her heart recoiled. “I am very sorry I woke you. You have had a long day as well and need your sleep.”

Connor’s silence caused T’Pol to look back into those eyes, larger than Trip’s, more like Elizabeth’s, she realized, and stunningly blue. Would Elizabeth have had that thick shock of sandy-blond hair? The Elizabeth in her nightmare was older than she ever lived to be—perhaps five or six—like Tallah. In fact, it was Tallah at first and T’Pol had been leading her away from her kidnappers quickly, before the amethyst exploded and the shooting began. 

“It’s okay,” Connor said after a bit, bringing T’Pol back from her nightmare. “I wasn’t sleeping, I’m always too wound up when I first come back here. I always lay there listening to all the creatures’ voices, trying to pick out the ones I know best.”

Suddenly T’Pol became aware of the night sounds in the room. She knew the sounds were coming in through the window, but they sounded as though they were coming through all the walls. She couldn’t even guess at all the Earth creatures she was hearing, could barely even sort them out. It was an amazing cacophony. How had she not been aware of them before? “You can separate the sounds and identify them?”

“Some of them. Well, most of them, actually. I only know some of them personally.”

“Personally.”

Connor laughed quietly, “Yes, in a way. I’ve studied some of the animals so closely, I’ve come to recognize their voices. If I were to go outside and call out your name, do you think you’d know it was I calling you?”

“Yes, I believe I would recognize your voice.”

“Same thing for me with the sounds I’m hearing. I listen for different ones I expect to be out there and once in awhile, I hear one I recognize.”

“Are they calling your name?”

“You’re making fun of me!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to tease you.”

“I didn’t know Vulcans did that sort of thing.”

“You would be doing me a favor if you didn’t tell on me.”

Connor laughed quietly again and T’Pol watched as moonlight sparkled in her eyes. “Something tells me you’ve been hanging out with some very unserious humans.”

T’Pol felt her heart ache again. She had indeed begun to make quietly humorous comments after several years on Enterprise—especially after she and Trip bonded and his thoughts became entwined subtly with hers.

“Oh, T’Pol, I’m sorry, I sent you back there again,” Connor murmured.

“No, Connor, it is I who should apologize. I am not managing my emotions very well at present.”

“How could you? I can’t imagine even meditating could sort all this out.”

“All this?”

Connor raised her hand, faltered, and slowly dropped it back into her lap. T’Pol realized the young woman had been about to touch her. Connor’s eyes were moist and very emotional. 

“You’ve lost a lot in the last few years, T’Pol,” she whispered. “Today probably brought much of that back to you.”

T’Pol’s vision began to blur and she was shocked to feel moisture spill from her eyes and down her cheeks. She tried to speak, but her voice came out as a sob. She felt Connor gather her up in her arms, but she didn’t resist. Without thinking, her own arms embraced Connor and she sobbed even harder. The harder T’Pol cried, the tighter Connor held her.

#

She awoke as her foot became very warm. Light filled the room and a beam of sunlight focused like a laser through the window onto her lower leg and foot. She instinctively bent her knee to move it out of the sunlight and realized they were both moving together, she and Connor. She raised her head from Connor’s shoulder and they parted a bit, Connor still holding her, but more loosely. 

Connor smiled sweetly down at T’Pol who was too shocked to respond in any way but to stare back. Connor didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss, scratched her head and caused the thick shock of blond hair to stand on end.

“What?” She murmured and rubbed her eyes.

“You look like a parrot,” T’Pol managed to answer, regretting the remark the minute it formed outside her mouth.

“Hah!” Connor laughed, to T’Pol’s relief not seeming to take it as an insult. “We all can’t wake up looking unruffled and cool like a Vulcan hero, my dear.” She grinned warmly at T’Pol, who found herself unwilling to move out of the young woman’s arms, even though she felt she definitely should. She began to wonder at being called a hero, but decided to push it back for now. It was more than she could deal with under the circumstances.

“You held me while I slept.”

“And vice versa.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. I know it’s something you wouldn’t let just anyone do. I don’t take it lightly that you allowed me to comfort you.”

T’Pol felt her throat tighten, but she was rested enough now to suppress the emotion welling up. “I feel very comfortable with you.”

“I feel the same way. I knew I’d like you because Trip liked you. I didn’t know, though, that I would feel so…that I would feel so much.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, no one else nearby this time to cause them to feel self-conscious, to make them break off the connection. T’Pol knew Connor was about to kiss her, but she didn’t pull away. She let it happen, wanted it to happen, wanted very much to know what it would feel like to be kissed by those full lips.

As Connor’s kiss deepened, T’Pol reached up and finally ran her fingers through the thick blond hair she realized she’d been wanting to touch since the day before. Connor responded with a moan as T’Pol reached through her hair to clasp the back of Connor’s head. Their mouths continued to move as their bodies joined in. The kiss lasted until they both broke off gasping. They stared at each other again, then began to remove each other’s thin t-shirts and shorts.

All the times T’Pol and Trip had made love, it had not fully prepared her for the depth of emotion she felt this time. Had she not had the experience with Trip, this would have frightened her in its intensity. As it was, she gasped with each new touch and each time Connor whispered her name in her ear. Yes, T’Pol acknowledged, she would know this woman’s voice, calling her name in the dark, for the rest of her life.


	3. Vulcan Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This could be the start of something...

They stepped off the shuttle and walked together toward the transportation hub where T’Pol would board a Starfleet land shuttle to meet Jonathan Archer. Halfway there, T’Pol realized Connor had stopped walking several steps back. She turned to see Connor staring back at her own shuttle.

“Perhaps I should just go back and let you go on,” she said, a little louder than she needed to.

“Is that what you want to do?”

“No. Yes. Oh, damn, T’Pol, I don’t know. What the hell happens now? Do you just go on and I don’t see you until Enterprise happens to come back this way again?”

That’s when T’Pol understood. The memory of the last time Trip and she sat in the shuttle for an away mission and she told him she would miss him after the mission was completed and they would all be going off in different directions. She remembered how comforting he had been. How she still cherished what he’d said to her, how he had smiled at her and reassured her that they would always stay in touch.

“Do you truly think I am going to walk into that building and not see you again? Do you really believe I could even do that?”

“I don’t know. Tell me. I need to know.”

T’Pol walked back until she was standing very close to Connor. She let her head softly touch Connor’s, forehead to forehead. “I love you. I am going to meet with Jonathan and discuss how I can fulfill my mission with Starfleet and still be near you. Your project is almost completed. You have no set plans yet. I spent the time we were flying here trying to think of proposals I could make to Starfleet and to you that would satisfy both. I realize now that I have not said any of this aloud and I apologize for my Vulcan way of not communicating, which has caused you to make erroneous assumptions concerning my lack of devotion to you. You will, unfortunately, never actually get used to that and I will undoubtedly never overcome the habit, but perhaps we can ameliorate the repercussions by simply acknowledging the problem. It may make our lives together somewhat less stressful.”

“Our lives together?”

“I intend to spend the rest of my life with you. I assumed you felt the same.”

“I do.”

“I am relieved to hear that. You caused me a nanosecond of trepidation.”

“People are starting to stare at the female human and the female Vulcan with their foreheads together.”

“I thought this would be less conspicuous than if we were to kiss.”

“By this time, we’re probably drawing about the same amount of attention.”

T’Pol straightened her neck and stepped back one step. “Is this better?”

“No. I still want you to kiss me.”

“We cannot talk when we’re kissing. We can hardly breathe when we’re kissing and we tend to moan a great deal. Therefore, I doubt that would solve the problem of people staring at us.”

“When will I see you again?”

“If you come with me to talk to Jonathan, we may work that out together.”

“We need to tell Charlie I might be awhile.”

T’Pol reached into her kip and withdrew her communicator. She punched in a couple digits, waited, then requested a link up with Connor’s shuttle, identifying it by the call letters on its side. Then she handed the communicator to Connor.

“Charlie, I’m going with T’Pol for a few hours. Do you want to come into the hub with us and get something to eat? Are you sure? Okay. Splice this number into your communicator so I can contact you before I head back. Right. Thanks. See you in a few.” She handed the communicator back to T’Pol who dropped it back into her kip, grabbed Connor’s hand and made Connor smile very broadly.

“Oh, they’re gonna be talkin’ now, Sweetie,” Connor drawled.

“Do you realize your normally very mild accent becomes quite noticeable when you are nervous?”

“You should hear me when I get mad,” Connor replied, allowing her shoulder to touch briefly with T’Pol’s.

“I am sure I shall someday, but I am willing to wait a very long time for that.”

“Oh, T’Pol, the adventures we’ll have…”

“Indeed.”


End file.
